Furnace-charging apparatus.



No. 666J23. Patented Jan. l5, l90l. s. T. a c. H. WELLMAN & .1. w. SEAVER.

FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS.

(Applicstion med Jan. 17', 1900.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

rue nonms PETERS co. PHOTO-LITMD., wmmrmn No. 666.l23. Patanted lan. l5, 190i; s. T. a c. H. 'WELLMAN &. .1. w. SEAVEB.

FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS.

, (Application filed .nm. 17. 1900. (M 3 Sheais-Sheat 2.

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Patented Jan. I5, I901.

s. T. a c. n. wELLmAu & J. w. SEAVER.

FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Jan. 17, 1900.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL T. WELLMAN, CHARLES H. WELLMAN, AND JOHN W. SEAVER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE WELLMAN-SEAVER ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FU RNACE-CHARGING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 666,123, dated January 15, 1901.

Application filed January 1'7, 1900. Serial No. 1,791. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: the lower race for aseries of balls, upon which Beitknown thatwe, SAMUEL T.WELLMAN, is mounted an annular rail carried by a ring CHARLES H. WELLMAN, and JOHN W. SEAVER, 8, the latter being provided with a depending citizens of the United States, and residents of structure 9, upon which the tongs and the 5 Cleveland, Ohio, have invented certain Immechanism for raising and loweringaud open- 55 provements in Furnace-Charging Apparatus, ing and closing said tongs are mounted.

of which the following is a specification. The depending ring 7 has secured to it an Our invention consists of certain improveannular rack 10, and with this rack engages ments in or modifications of the furnacea pinion 11 on a shaft 12, which is adapted to charging apparatus for which Letters Patent suitable hearings on the depending structure 60 No. 569,075 were granted on the 6th day of 9 and is driven through the medium of suit- October, 1896, the objects of our present inable gearing from an electric or other motor vention being to provide for the automatic 13, mounted on said depending structure 9. gripping of the ingot by the tongs, to permit Hence by a suitable operation of this motor 15 of the swinging of the tongs to any desired said structure can be caused to turn in either 6; position and the use of the same for charging direction around a vertical axis coincident eithera right-hand furnace or a left-hand fur-' with the axis of the ring 8. nace, to counterbalance or partially counter- To the depending structure 9 are hung lebalance the weight of the tongs and their apvers let and arms 15, and upon these levers 2o purtenances, and to provide for the ready reand arms is supported the tongs carrying 70 lease of the ingot from the tongs. structure, which consists in the present in- In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is stance of a transverse front frame 16 and side a view, partly in side elevation and partly in plates 17, the whole forming a sort of box or section,illustrating an ingot-handler for furcage in which the operator sits and which naces constructed in accordance with our incontains the mechanism foropening and clos- 75 vention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the crane ing the tongs and the various switches and structure forming partof the apparatus. Fig. controllers whereby the electric motors, con- 3 is a front View of the tongs-carrier and of stituting the operating devices of the crane, the frame in which thesarneis mounted. Fig. are governed and thrown into and out of ac- 4 is a side elevation illustrating the means for tion. 80 suspending the tongs-carrier. Figs. 5 and 6 The rear arms of the levers 14: carry an are views illustrating the automatic gripping electric motor 18, which by means of suitable action of the tongs, and Figs. 7 and 8 are gearing drivesashaft 19, mounted in suitable views illustrating the construction of one of hearings on said levers l4 and having acrank the parts of the apparatus. 20, which is connected bya link 21 to a fixed 85 In Fig. 1 two furnaces or members of two shaft or stud 22 at the upper portion of the rows of furnaces facing each other are reprehanger 9. Hence by rotating said shaft 19 sented respectively at 1 and 2, and above these the crank may be caused to turn and the rear furnaces or rows of furnaces are suitably suparms of the levers 14 may be caused to rise 40 ported longitudinal girders 3, which carry or fall, so as to lower or lift the tongs-carry- 9o railsformingrunwaysfor wheels uponatransing structure, thus permitting the tongs to verse crane-girder 4:, certain of these wheels descend into position to engage with an ingot being rotated by gearing from a shaft 5, which and after such engagement to lift the ingot may be driven by an electric or other suitable from the truck or other support on which it motor, so as to traverse the crane-girder 41011- rests, the crane then carrying the ingot to the gitudinally. furnace, inserting it therein, and depositing it To suitable rails on the girder 4 are adapted upon the furnace hearth or floor, from which the wheels of a trolley 6, which can run from it can be removed by a reversal of the operaone end of the girder to the other, and dependtion or by any suitable means.

5 ing from this trolley is a ring 7, which carries By mounting the motor and its gearing upon I00 the rear arms of the levers 14 the weight of the same counterbalances or partially counterbalances the weight of the tongs and their appurtenances, and thus facilitates the raising and lowering of said tongs and relieves the raising and lowering devices from a considerable portion of the strain which would otherwise be exerted upon them.

The fixed jaw of the tongs is carried by or forms part of an arm 23, which 13 mounted upon a rod or shaft 24, carried by the transverse frame 16, and to said rod or to the arm 23 is connected a rearwardly-projecting arm 25 ora pair of such arms, for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

Guided so as to slide longitudinally on the arm 23 is the movable jaw 26 of the tongs, which is connected to a rod 27, having a threaded portion 28, which is adapted to a nut 29*, Fig. 7, free to turn in, but longitudinally confined to, a box or casing 29, said nut being toothed for engagement with a spurwheel 30 on a shaft 31, which is adapted to.

bearings on a projecting bracket 32 and carries a bevel-pinion 33, the latter meshing with a bevel-wheel 34 on a shaft likewise adapted to bearings in the bracket 32 and provided with a hand-wheel 35 within reach of the attendant, who can by moving this hand-wheel in one direction or the other impart rotative movement to the nut contained in the box or casing 29, and can thus advance or retract the rod 27 and cause movement of the jaw 26 of the tongs from or toward the fixed jaw of the same.

The arm 25 of the tongs, or each of said arms if a pair is employed, is connected bya link 36 to the central pin or knuckle 37 of a pair of toggle-levers 38 and 39, one hung to a fixed abutment 4:0 on the fioor of the tongscarrying structure and the other hung to a sliding block 41, which has a projecting lug or ear 4E1 engaging with a pin 42, which projects from the holder 29 for the nut, which receives the adjusting-screw 28. (See Figs. 5 and 6.)

The outer projecting arm 23 of the tongs is contact with the ingot and is lifted slightly thereby, so as to depress the toggle-levers 38 and 39, as shown in Fig. 5. The movable jaw having been so adjusted that the spurs of the two jawsare adjacent to or lightly in contact with the ends of the ingot, the tongs-carrying structure is raised. The first effect of thisaction is to cause the straightening of the toggle-levers 38 39 and the consequent forcing outward of the block 41, the nut-holder 29, rod 27, and slide 26, so that the ingot is firmly and automatically gripped between the or said structure Wlll cause the lifting of the arm 23 of the tongs and the toggle-levers 38 and 39 will be again bent in order to retract the screw-adjusting mechanism of the slide 26 and withdraw the latter from engagement with the ingot.

By the provision of a longitudinally-traveling crane with transversely-movable trolley having a turn-table which carries the supporting and operating devices for the tongs extreme mobility of the tongs is provided for and the latter can readily feed furnaces facing either the right or left and can pick up an ingot from or deposit it at any point within the longitudinal or transverse traverse of the crane, the .raising and lowering of the tongs being facilitated by the counterbalancing effect of the motor and gearing, whereby such movement is effected, and by so constructing the tongs as to automatically grip the ingot as the tongs are raised the attendant'is relieved from the duty of imparting such heavy pressure to the movable jaw of the tongs as to elfect such secure gripping of the ingot.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination in an ingot-charging machine, of a tongs-carrying structure, lever mechanism having said tongs-carrying structure supported on one side of the fulcrum thereof, and mechanism for raising and lowering the tongs-carrying structure supported on the other side of said fulcrum, so as to counterbalance or partially counterbalance the weight of the tongs-carrying structure.

2. The combination in an ingot-charging apparatus, of a tongs-carrying structure, lever mechanism upon which the same is mounted, a crank also mounted on said lever mechanism and connected bya link to a fixed stud or pin on the lever-supporting structure, and means for rotating said crank.

3. The combination of gripping-tongs having a movablejaw, with toggle mechanism connected to said jaw and serving to move the same as the tongs are raised or lowered.

4. The combination of a tongscarrying structure having a tongs-lever with heavy projecting arm, and lighter inner arm, a movable jaw operating in conjunction with said projecting arm, and mechanism interposed between said movable jaw and the inner arm of the lever and including a toggle which is bent and straightened as the tongs -lever swings on its fulcrum.

5. The combination of the tongs-carrying structure having a tongs-lever with heavy projecting arm and lighter inner arm, a movable jaw sliding on said projecting arm, a threaded stem connected to said jaw, a nut engaging with said stem, a nut-holder, and a toggle acting upon said nut-holder and connected to the inner arm of the tongs-lever.

6. The combination of the tongs-carrying structure having a tongs-lever with heavy projecting arm and lighter inner arm, a movable jaw sliding on said projecting arm, a threaded stem connected to said jaw, a nut engaging with said stem, a nut-holder, and a toggle connected to said'inner arm of the tongs-lever and connected to the nut-holder, so as to both project and retract the same.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL T. WELLMAN. CHARLES H. WELLMAN. JOHN W. SEAVER. Witnesses:

C. W. COMSTOCK, S. R. SAGUE. 

